It is 2048. A law had been passed RA# 30789 called the Kamote Planting Regulation Act, which made it illegal to eat, possess or grow sweet potato, or the "kamote." This law was passed because kamote had become an addicting dangerous drug, and the government is still hellbent on its war on drugs. Therefore, despite research proving that a vital chemical for the cure of AIDS had been isolated from kamote, it is still an illegal foodstuff.
In the face of such a tough law, Leonor "Iyong" Silva and her husband Urbano "Bano" grew their own supply of kamote in a remote place out of town. One day, Bano was caught and arrested by the police for breaking the kamote law. Iyong sought the help of TV-station guy Calvin to help her locate her husband as well as to give their story airtime, as widespread public protests were being held all over to make kamote legal again.
More than her husband's disappearance though, Iyong was also battling internal demons of her own. She seemed to have lost a significant chunk of her memories, and bits and pieces of it are coming back to haunt her.
The year was supposed to have been 2048, but the Philippines looked exactly alike in terms of its architecture, telecommunications facilities, its transportation services, its fashion sense, etc. It was a depressing vision of no progress in our country. There were just a few small details that indicate a futuristic setting, like people wearing virtual reality goggles on the bus, or the blue neon-lined pad of Carlo, or some ultra-bright billboards on buildings.
This was the first film I had seen of Katrina Halili, and she is in the puzzling lead role of Iyong. For the whole film, she looked scared and clueless. Her eyes seemed glazed and blank. Despite this, she was still able to find her money, ride a bus to big city, and locate a TV station all by herself. Halili does a good job of acting like she does not know what was going on around her, because honestly I do not know too.
We actually do not really know if Leonor Silva is her real name or not. Calvin was able to find another much older woman with her exact name (Lui Manansala), whose husband was also named Urbano. Who were they? We see Bano in jail in one scene pleading with her. Then later we see Bano out of jail tending kamote in the backyard. So what was real and what was not? Was the whole movie only about Iyong under the hallucinating influence of one major kamote-induced bad trip? I also do not know.
In that sense, were there really all these male characters around her? Was her husband Bano (Alex Medina) really arrested by the cops? Was there really a cruel crime lord (Kiko Matos) harrassing her? Was there really a TV guy Calvin (Carl Guevara) helping her? While talking to her husband supposedly in prison, Iyong got a sudden epiphany about a traumatic experience she suffered. If that was so, how could that shock ending even happen? Or was that what really happened? I still do not know.
In the recent Cinemalaya filmfest, the partnership of director Carlo Enciso Catu and scriptwriter John Carlo Pacala came up with a winning dramatic gem about love among senior citizens in "Kung Paano Hinintay ang Dapithapon." However, this follow-up Catu-Pacala collaboration is not as easily accessible nor relatable. It never really answered any of the questions it posed, and in fact gave rise to even more unanswered questions. However, if you give time for post-viewing analysis, you can come up with any number of interpretations, and that could actually be a good thing. 5/10.
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